Curtain-shade-operating means.



J. W. TATUM. CURTAIN SHADE OPERATING MEANS.

APPLIOATI ON FILED DEC. 4, 1911.

1,033,490. Patented July 23, 1912.

um/who vm waw H I Moe/M13 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

JAMES W. TATUM, OF ANGIER, NORTH CAROLINA.

CURTAIN-SHADE-OPERATING MEANS.

To all 'w/wmz't may concern:

Be it known that I, JAMES W. TATUM, a citizen of the United States,residing at Angier, in the county of Harnett and State of NorthCarolina, have invented new and useful Improvements in Curtain-Shade-Operating Means, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to shade and ourtain fixtures, and has for itsobject to provide a novel bracket for rotatably supporting each pintleof a shade roller, which brackets shall be alike in every respect, andadaptable for either end of the roller, and provided with means forlocking the roller in fixed position to retain the shade carried by saidroller to any height desired. Said brackets may also be provided withmeans for securing thereto a curtain rod, integrally formed with saidbracket, the whole being preferably made of sheet metal.

A further object of the invention has reference to a novel means forunlocking the roller from the bracket and then rotating it in eitherdirection to raise or lower the shade without the use of a containedspring, and afterward permit the roller to fall into locked positionupon release of the rotating means.

With these and other objects in View the invention consists of the novelcombination and arrangement of parts hereinafter described in detail,and pointed out in the appended claims, reference being had to theaccompanying drawings, in which- Figure 1 is a front view of the upperportion of a window, 'with the improved ourtain fixture in placetherein, Fig. 2 is a perspective view of one end of the curtain fixture,showing the supporting bracket and the rotating mechanism for the shaderoller. Fig. 3 is a side view of one of the supporting brackets for theshade roller. Fig. 4 is a transverse sectional view showing a modifiedform of bracket arranged to support a curtain pole. Fig. 5 is aperspective view of the modified bracket.

In the drawings, wherein like reference characters are used to designatethe same parts in all of the figures, the numeral 10 indicates a curtainroller on which is mount-- ed a shade 11 in the usual manner. Projecting from opposite ends of the roller 10 are pintles 12 and 13 mountedto rotate in perforations 14 formed in brackets 15, which maySpecification of Letters Patent.

Application filed December 4, 1911.

Patented July 23', 1912.

Serial No. 663,753.

be made of any desired form, but, as illustrated in Figs. 1, 2 and 3,said bracket comprlses a circular lower end or plate 16 of sheet metal,from the upper end of which radiates an arm 17, bent at a suitabledistance above the plate at right angles to the lower portion of saidarm to form a horizontal projection 18, perforated to receive fasteningscrews 19 for securing the bracket in fixed position on opposite ends ofa bar 20 of wood, of a proper length to fit within the window frame. Ifdesired, the brackets may be screwed directly to the window framewithout the use of the bar 20. It is preferred, however, to use the bar,as it will be made of such length that when the brackets are secured tothe ends thereof they will be properly spaced to receive the shaderoller, and furthermore when it is desired to take down the shade itwill only be nec essary to lift said bar from the hook brackets 21project-ing from the window frame and the whole fixture removed.

One of the pintles 13 is round throughout its length, but the oppositepintle 12 is made polygonal, or has flattened sides 22 to engage adownwardly projecting slot 23 from the perforation 14 to hold the roller10 against rotation when the shade 11 has been raised or lowered intosuitable position.

The roller 10 is rotated in opposite directions by means of cords 24 and25, both Wound around one end of the roller a sufli- -cient number oftimes, and one end of each cord fastened to the roller by a staple 26,or other form of fastening. Preferably, the ends of both cords are heldby the same staple, or if desired, a single cord only may be used,fastened to the roller at its center or ends by said staple. The cordswhich are Wound in opposite direct-ions around the roller pass upwardlyfrom said roller through guides 27, here shown as screw eyes fastened tothe underside of the bar 20, and from the eyes the cords extenddownwardly beside the curtain as far as is necessary. As thus arrangedthe roller 10 is rotated to lower the shade 11 by drawing the cord 24downwardly, the first action of which is to lift the end of the roller10, from which projects the polygonal or flattened pintle 22 out of theslot 23 into the circular perforation 14, whereupon the roller is causedto rotate by the continued drawing of the cord 24. As soon as thecurtain has been lowered sufficiently the cord 24 is released and theweight of the roller causes the pintle 22 to drop again in the slot 23,and lock the roller against rotation. Upon pulling the cord 25 theroller is again elevated as above, but rotated in the oppositedirection, thereby winding the shade 11 upon the roller, which latter isagain locked in position when the cord 25 is released. It will thus benoted that the shade is raised or lowered by a downward pull on one orthe other of the cords 2a and 25, the winding operation being direct andquite simple.

It is to be noted that by making the brackets 15 alike the shade may bereversed, thereby bringing the cords to the opposite side of the windowshould such be desired, as at times it is more convenient to raise theshade from one side of the window than from the other.

It is sometimes desirable to use curtains in connection with. windowshades, and for this purpose the bracket may be so constructed as toprovide outwardly projecting arms, to which av curtain pole can beattached. Such form of bracket is clearly shown in Figs. 1 and 5. I11this instance, instead of fastening the brackets 30 on the bar 20, bymeans of the radial arm 17, a tangential arm 31 projects upwardly fromthe bracket plate 16 for a suitable distance, and is then bent over toform a loop 32 to receive the fastening screw 33 for attaching thebracket to the window frame. A second arm 3 1 projects upwardly andoutwardly, preferably in a curved shape, from the op posite edge of theplate 16, and is bent inwardly at its free end and at right angles tothe bracket to furnish a support 35 for a curtain pole 36 securedthereto by screws passing through the support. In this instance thesupports or screw eyes 27, through which the cords 2s and 25 pass, arepreferably fastened on the curtain pole, as shown.

in Fig. at, and the slot 23, for the polygonal pintle extends at anangle from the perforation 14, substantially in a line drawn through thesupport 27 and the axis of the perforation 14. This is done to permiteasy movement of the pintle in the slot 23 when the latter is raised andlowered for the purpose of turning the roller 10. It is evident that thebracket 30 may have its arm 31 bent at a right angle similar to the arm17 of Fig. 3 instead of being formed into a loop and be fastened to abar 20. Furthermore, the arm 17, on the bracket 15, may extendtangentially therefrom and be looped, as in Fig. 5, if it be desired toattach the bracket directly to the window frame in a manner similar tothat illustrated in Fig. 1.

Having fully described my invention I claim:

1. A shade fixture comprising a bar, like brackets formed each with anintegral projecting arm having an inturned end fastened on each end ofsaid bar, each bracket having a circular perforation therethrough and aslot extending from said perforation in a direction away from said bar,guides afiixed to said bar at one end spaced from the adjacent bracket,a roller having a round pintle at one end and a flattened pintle at theother end adapted to enter the perforation in either of said brackets,said flat toned pintle normally engaging the slot to prevent rotation ofthe roller, and cords or the like each attached. at one end to that endof said roller from which the flattened pintle projects and wound inopposite direc tions around the roller, then extending upwardly to andeach cord through one of said guides and thence downwardly into positionto be grasped by the hand, whereby pulling on one or the other of saidcords first lifts the flattened pintle from its slot and then rotatesthe roller, the direction of rotation depending on the cord pulled.

2. A shade fixture comprising a roller having a pintle at each end, oneof which pintles is of polygonal shape, like brackets for supporting theroller, each bracket having a perforation for a pintle and a pintlelocking slot opening into said perforation an arm projecting upwardlyfrom said bracket formed with an inturned end for the attachment of acurtain pole, guides on the curtain pole, and manually operative meansfor passing through said guides to raise and unlock the locked pintleand to rotate said roller in either direction.

8. A bracket for shade fixtures comprising a flat plate having acircular perforation therethrough and a slot narrower than saidperforation open thereinto, and an arm extending outwardly from saidplate in a direction opposite said slot and provided witha right angleprojection for attaching the bracket in fixed position, said bracketbeing adapted for use at either end of a shade roller.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto set my hand in presence of twosubscribing witnesses.

J. W. TATUM.

Witnesses:

W. E. WILSON, J. P. DIXON.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressingthe Commissioner of Patents, Washington, D. G.

